Well groomed turf, such as golf course greens, must be renovated periodically. One step in the renovation is the aeration of the green by the removal of core plugs. Core plugs are cylindrical plugs of the turf and underlying soil removed by a special aeration machine. The aeration machine leaves the core plugs on the surface of the turf for later removal by a worker.
Core plug removal is commonly done by hand. Workers, using long handled pushers, remove the plugs by pushing them off the edge of the green. Later the piles of core plug surrounding the green are scooped up. To clear a 7,000 square foot green, it takes about four or five workers 25 to 30 minutes. It is, besides time consuming, a very tiring task for the workers.